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Student Leadership Programme puts on Masterclass in aid of Tanzanian School

Student Leadership Programme puts on Masterclass in aid of Tanzanian School

Issue date: 19 June 2014

Wisdom regained: a Masterclass in leadership from the Masai People

The Clifton Pavillion, Bristol Zoo, Friday 20 June, 18:00 – 22:00

The students currently enrolled on the UWE Bristol Vice-Chancellor's Student Leadership Programme (VCSL) have organised a unique event for the local businesses and leaders of the South West, in aid of the children of the Morogoro School in Tanzania.

Inspired by their time in Tanzania last summer, this Masterclass in Leadership from inspirational speaker, international business expert and 'changemaker', Chris Howe, will explore the wisdom of leadership from the Masai people and its relevance to business in the South West. Chris is mentoring the VCSL students and is kindly donating his expertise and time to this cause.

The event has been created in conjunction with the Bristol Leadership Programme for disadvantaged young people, and seeks to provide the children of Morogoro with a better quality of life and education by raising money through ticket sales.

The students chose to try to make a difference to young people in Morogoro as a result of a personal connection for one of the students on the programme, Grace Clay, who was in the city and attended the school. With the support of the Vice-Chancellor's team, four students flew out to Tanzania to carry out research and establish the needs and priorities of the pupils in the local school. They soon realised how great the needs were. 2000 pupils were crammed into 10 small classrooms with only eight shanty style toilets between them. Many pupils walk miles to attend and, on top of that, the school does not have running water which has to be carried.

Syed Bukhari, a student on the VCSL Programme, says, “This event is for an amazing cause, raising funds for Azimo Primary School. The school lacks basic resources that we take for granted in the UK, like books, stationary and desks; we want to change that. It was a passion of ours to do development work, particularly in education, because we believe that education is the key to alleviating.”

Anita Gulati, Senior Lecturer at the Bristol Business School, says, “One thing has led to another in a most serendipitous way with the Vice-Chancellor's Student Leadership Programme, which set out as a pilot to test the waters for developing our second year students' leadership capability with an eye on their futures after graduation. The programme welcomes students from a diverse range of backgrounds, but in particular aims to help raise aspirations of those from disadvantaged backgrounds and harness potentially latent talent. We are very proud of what this group of students has achieved and look forward to further successes and development moving forward.”

Steve West, UWE Vice-Chancellor, says, “This event is an exciting culmination of a programme established to give a group of students who do not have a network of contacts, access to, and the chance to learn leadership skills from, influential people like Chris Howe.

“The world needs motivated self-starters and by giving students access to real life leaders and mentors we aim to enhance their understanding of the personal qualities and skills needed to become effective leaders, in a safe supportive environment. We hope that participation in the programme will play an important part in growing confidence, a 'can-do' attitude and a belief that they have the potential to become the leaders in their chosen field of work in the future.”